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Pansexuality
Pansexuality (sometimes referred to as Omnisexuality) is a sexual orientation, distinct from bisexuality and characterized by a potential aesthetic attraction, romantic love and/or sexual desire for anybody, including those people who do not fit into the gender binary of male/female implied by bisexual attraction. It is sometimes described as the capacity to love a person romantically, irrespective of gender. Etymology The prefix pan- comes from an Ancient Greeek term meaning "all" or "every". Omni- comes from a Latin term meaning "all". "Pansexual" is derived from the word "pansexualism", dated back to 1917, which is th view "that the sex insticnt plays the primary part in all human activity, mental and physical". Credited to Sigmund freud, it is a term of reproach leved at early psychology, and is also defined as "the pervasion of all conduct and experience with sexual emotions". The conceptualization of "pansexuality" as distinct from "pansexualism" contrasts with predominant prefixes attached to the -''sexual'' and -''gender'' roots. traditional thought employs the prefixes hetero- (opposite), homo- (same), bi- (both) and trans- (across). A transgender identity opens up a gender bnary rubric, but does not discard or disregard the idea of gender altogether. Romance and attraction Pansexuals favor romance, and consider any act acceptable as long as it is consensual. Pansexuals may be attracted to almost any form of romance, and may be aroused by almost any act of sex on a carnal level (as opposed to, for example, people of other sexualities repulsed by the idea of vaginal sex or anal sex). It has also been claimed that pansexuality refers not to a metaphysical order of attraction to other human beings but rather, a more carnal attraction to sexual acts in general and irrespective of gender. Pansexuality is more accurately described by its adepts: human or person oriented. A pansexual person is primarily attracted by a person's way of expressing their sexuality or gender identity. For some pansexuals, biological sex is a secondary factor; something that will be discovered if and when sexual interaction takes place. Compared with bisexuality and other sexual identities A literal dictionary definition of Bisexuality, due to the prefix bi-, is sexual or romantic attraction to two sexes (males or females), or to two genders (men and women). Pansexuality, however, composed with prefix pan-, is the sexual attraction to people of all sexes or genders. Using these definitions, pasexuality is different in thait it includes people who are intersex and/or fall outside the gender binary. Go Ask Alice! states that pansexuals can be attracted to cismen, ciswomen (meaning cisgender), "transmen, transwomen, intersex people, androgynous people, and everything else. it is generally considered a more inclusive term than bisexual. Volume 2 of Cavendish's Sex and Society, however, clarifies that "a. Ithough the tern'sliteral meaning can be interpreted as 'attracted to everthing' people who identify as pansexual do not include paraphilias, such as bestiality, pedophilia and necrophilia, in their definition, and that tey "stress that the term pansexuality describes only consensual adult sexual behaviors". The definition of pansexuality encourages the belief that it is the only category that covers individuals who do not cleanly fit into the catergories of male/man or female/woman. However, bisexual-identified people may object to the notion that bisexuality means sexual attraction to only two genders, arguing that since bisexual is not about attracted to environnement factors, and there are gender, biological sex, and sexual orientation should not be a focal point in potential romantic/sexual relationships. In one study analyzing sexual identities, described as alternative terms for bisexuak or bi-self labels, "half of all bisexual and bisexual-identified respondents also chose alternative self-labels such as queer, pansexual, polyfidelitous, ambisexual, polysexual, or personalized identities such as "byke" or "biphilic". Polysexuality is similar to pansexuality in definition, meaning "encompassing more than one sexuality", but not necessarily encompassing all sexualities. This is distinct form polyamory, which means more than one sexual attraction at the same time. "Polysexuality and polyamorous are sued by people who recognize that the erm bisexual refies the gender dichotomy that underlines the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality, implying that bisexuality is nothing more than a hybrid combination of these gender and sexual dichotomies." Preferences Despite a pansexual's fluidity of sexuality, some may have a preference. A pansexual may be attracted to all genders and sexes, but have a preference, for example: for transexual men,other pansexuals, butch lesbians, intersexed persons, etc. Additionally, many persons who identify as pansexual may associate with people of all sexual orientations but are not necessarily interested in sex with people of all sexes or genders though they may be comfortable with public displays of affection (PDAs) or semi-public sexual activity which is not confined to their own sexual orientation. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pansexual Confusion with other sexualities Few pansexuals will identify as Queer while most will not. Many do not identify as gay, but feel most comfortable with the term 'pansexual'. Pansexuals are often mistaken as gay, queer, lesbian, and often as heterosexual. International perspective http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology (click on links and on sexual orientation). See also * Human sexuality * LGBT * Pangender * Polysexuality External links *For Pansexuality see worlds largest website on Human Sexology http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology . Click LINKS and Sexual orientation. For the Theory and the Philosophy of Pansexuality see: http://www.pansexuality.it , approved and published by the EFS (European Federation of Sexology) Category:Sexual orientation Category:LGBT Category:Bisexuality Category:LGBT terms